Professional Instructional Design December 10, 2014

We are wrapping up the semester and finalizing our 2nd projects in my Instructional Design class. We have been asked to explain what it means to design instruction and identify what skills are required to do it professionally. Designing instruction involves creating some form of media for the purpose of providing information someone is expected to learn. How this is done may appear different depending upon the job, but the basic process will be similar. One possible design process referred to as ADDIE involves analysis, development, design, implementation, and evaluation. While this may work for most initial projects, designs are often revised and updated as the need arises. So a shortened version of ADDIE may occur repeatedly. Consider the implementation period. Much of today’s digital designs are continuously implemented but still need revising on a regular basis. Therefore, most educational software developers update their programs according to the school year and upload those edits during the summer.

Thinking of designing professionally, three key skills are necessary. Being knowledgeable of design software and techniques is essential to creating successful design. Designers must keep themselves updated with latest technology, trends, and software updates. Consider how software also gets updated on a regular basis. Sometimes the updates are simple changes, but sometimes the entire software product is revamped. Even the experienced user and designer must spend time learning where the tools have been moved to. Expanding one’s skill set will certainly increase how valuable one can be to future clients. I ponder how clients often do not know what software would be best for their need or situation; perhaps they are not aware of all the possibilities. It will be the instructional designer’s job to hear what the client needs and help their client choose the best vehicle to articulate their ideas.

Having a background in teaching, knowledge of national and state standards, and experience with a variety of educational materials is also a key skill to being an effective instructional designer. Even with efforts to nationalize curriculum, state standards vary across the country. I have myself experienced issues with materials created for national standards having to be modified to Texas state standards. No matter how the company attempted to “fit” their materials into the standards, they did not fully address the expectations or all the specificities. Also, the TEKS are revised and updated regularly, and although designers are not involved with this process, they will experience the brunt of revising and updating websites, textbooks, consumable workbooks, etc. once the updated TEKS are adopted. Having actual classroom experience assures the designer will consider the logistics behind implementing their products. Teachers rarely use materials at face value, so designers must consider how teachers will modify their products, pairing them down or expanding upon them. Designers must consider the ages of the intended audience. If the designer has no experience with the busy brains of a first grader, they may have difficulty creating materials the child can handle.

Perhaps the most important skill to an instructional designer is a combination of time management, communication, and organization skills. Keeping up with benchmark and final deadlines keeps clients happy, but there is more to time management than deadlines. Understanding the time involved with creating materials in various applications is essential. The client may simply need paper-based materials to be converted to a digital form; this may not take very long unless the client has grand ideas about the interactivity of the digital form. However, creating materials from scratch or into a form which requires a great deal of planning or involvement of many people takes more time. Taking a project and breaking it down into smaller mini-tasks is something every designer must understand. Speaking of involving many people, strong communication skills will keep all parties “on the same page” while addressing everybody’s ideas and needs. Sometimes clients have difficulty articulating exactly what they want; they may not be able to put their needs into words. Instructional designers well versed in different forms of communication can assist the client “flush out” their ideas. Rarely would a professional handle one project at a time, so managing multiple projects at once requires the designer to keep all aspects of every project organized. Using calendars, reminder applications, project management programs, folders, and other organizational tools will facilitate the designer’s effectiveness.